Silent Presence
by HeteroChromium
Summary: There's always been a mutual understanding and unconditional support between the fearsome yet slightly misunderstood captain of the basketball team and the charismatic yet mysterious president of the student council.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This would be my first Kuroko no Basket story plus my first romance story ****_ever _****(yes, I've never written romance before). So there'll be a ****_lot _****of things I need to work on... but I'll try my best! I'd love it if you guys could help point out what I could improve on, I'm sure it'll help me a lot! Oh, but can you please put it in a nice way? I'm pretty weak-hearted... so words can really hurt me a lot... Thanks!**

**Right... I'm really sorry if you think this chapter's short... I haven't been writing fanfiction for a long time so I have a very distorted definition of what's 'short' for a usual fanfiction chapter...**

**I might be able to upload the next chapter soon since there's no school for the next few days (because of Chinese New Year). But please don't be disappointed if I can't make the deadline... I'm a master of "to be or not to be, that is the question".**

**Anyways, don't think I forgot ;) Happy birthday Kuroko Tetsuya! I really wanted this fic to be uploaded on your birthday! Oh, and my dear readers (if I have any) happy Chinese New Year! 新年快乐，万事如意！(Xīn nián kuài lè, wàn shì rú yì) **

* * *

"A-A-Akashi-san," the girl stammered, her face beet-red as she looked at down at the ground, at her white shoes, at anywhere but the red-haired boy's face. "Umm..."

The redhead had an inkling of where this was going. His sharp, piercing gaze never left the figure of the girl in front of him, making her feel more nervous than necessary. "Yes? Is there a problem?"

The girl blushed even more, her fingers restlessly playing with her long brown hair. "I-I... I really like you, Akashi-san!" Her face was even more red, if that was possible.

Akashi Seijuurou barely blocked a sigh from escaping through his lips. Not another one. "I really don't have time for this. I'm busy enough as it is," he replied, not sparing the poor girl a single glance as he weaved his way around her.

"Wa-wait!" the girl's hand reached out to catch the boy's sleeve. "I-I..." her voice faltered as she stared straight into the red-head's icy gaze as his heterochromatic eyes surveyed her critically. "Ne-never mind," she mumbled, letting go off his uniform. Her face red with humiliation, she shrank back, turning on her heel and quickly darting out of the almost empty hallway.

Suppressing a small sigh of annoyance, Akashi continued his way to his classroom, slicing through all the whispered rumours that seemed to constantly float around him.

"Did you see that? How heartless; to reject a girl so cruelly like that," one girl muttered to her group of friends by the side of the hallway and they could only nod in agreement.

"You see? This is why I'm telling you not to confess... Unless you want to become like that girl," another cautioned her friend, giving Akashi a glare as he strode past her and her companion.

"Wonder what's that guy's problem," a male student grumbled, standing at the side of a classroom door. Evidently, he had been about to enter his class when the incident happened. "She wasn't that bad-looking." His friend chortled before patting him on the back and opening the door to the classroom.

Akashi Seijuurou ignored all of this.

During class, he would ignore the teacher and read his own book and no one would disturb him. His teachers didn't bother to make him pay attention in class just as long as he kept up his perfect scores. He knew that once he let his grades drop even by just a bit, they would be on him like hungry wolves. He wouldn't let them have that chance, though. His classmates would also not dare to question him in fear of his sharp tongue and steel scissors.

He was mostly fine with this arrangement but as soon as lunchtime rolled around, he'd quickly escape somewhere else. _What's this feeling? _Akashi wondered as he wandered around the hallways, his bento box in one hand and a book clutched tightly in the other. Wherever he turned, he saw either groups of friends eating with one another or couples sitting close together.

Heart clenched in envy, Akashi lightly scoffed and abruptly turned round the corner and walked up a flight stairs. _This is getting ridiculous, _Akashi thought scornfully. _There's absolutely nothing to be envious of. I get the highest grades, am the captain of the basketball club, and never lose._

_ Ahhh... _a snide voice in mind mind snickered. _But no one likes you. Everyone fears you, remember? And with good reason too._

_ Quiet. _Akashi did find it quite absurd to talk to himself in his head but he had soon got used to it. Ever since he was eleven, there was always a voice at the back of his mind, disapproving what he did and often putting him down. He had quickly learnt to ignore it but sometimes, like now, it was hard to brush the voice's comments aside.

A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his argument. Remaining perfectly neutral, Akashi turned round to see a group of rainbow-haired teens staring at him. "Is anything wrong, Akashi?" The green-head with clear green eyes asked before quickly retracting his hand from the devil captain's shoulder. "Not that I particularly care, nanodayo."

"No, it's nothing," Akashi was quick to dismiss his teammates' concern. _It's not like you deserve it anyway, _the voice in his head sneered and Akashi tried to squash that thought before it affected him.

"Are you sure, Akashicchi?" Kise's worried, high-pitched voice hurt his eyes.

The red-haired devil reincarnate flashed Kise a dark smile. "Are you questioning me, Ryouta?"

"Not at all, not at all." Laughing nervously, Kise backed away from hiding behind Aomine, cowering from Akashi's glare.

"Just as I thought," Akashi gave a satisfied smirk. "Besides, what are you all doing here? Your classes are on the other side of this floor."

"Ah? Isn't it obvious? We want to eat lunch with you, Akachin," the purple-haired 'baby' of the team spoke up as he munched on his maiubo. Due to the chomping noise, Muraskibara's words were slightly muffled but after so long of this, the rest of the team didn't have much trouble understanding the gist of what he was trying to say.

"Yeah! Come on Akashicchi! Let's go eat!" Kise was back to his usual over-enthusiastic self. His high-frequency voice echoed off the walls of the hallway, causing most of the students to turn their way and the girls to swoon at the sight of the famous model.

"Hmph, it's not like I really care, nanodayo," Midorima scoffed. _You are so obvious, Shintarou, _Akashi thought, _You don't have to be a genius like me to realise how 'tsundere' you can be. _Although Akashi detested using such a common slang term like 'tsundere', even _he_ had to admit that that word was absolutely perfect in describing the tall shooting guard.

A yawn could be heard as the team's ace opened his mouth widely in boredom. "Yeah, yeah, so come on, let's go Akashi."

The redhead's facial features immediately contorted into a scowl. "Are you ordering me around, Daiki?"

The blue-head basketball-loving idiot gave a squeak of terror before he hid himself behind Kise who stood, frozen, hoping to not anger Akashi any further.

Seeing this scene in front of him, the words the voice in Akashi's mind came flooding back to him. _No one likes you. They all fear you. You don't deserve their concerns. _Turning to Midorima and Murasakibara, he spoke, "Thank you for the invitation, but I must decline."

Then, without giving his teammates enough time to protest, Akashi turned and started walking briskly up the flight of stairs at the end of the corridor, trying to ignore the tight feeling of pain in his chest.

For quite some time now, Akashi had been finding himself rather bothered by the fact that everyone seemed to fear him, despite telling himself time and time again that he didn't need companions. _Am I truly that frightening?_ He briefly wondered as he pushed open the door to to the rooftop.

Leaning against the railing of the empty school rooftop, Akashi opened up his bento box ad started eating the food that the five-star chefs at his house had made for him. After eating half of his food, he looked up and almost suffered a heart attack.

In front of him sat a short, lean boy with powder blue hair. The boy took a sip out of his drink and said, "Hello. It's nice to meet you."

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**Yeahhh... that's it. Once again, sorry for the short chapter but I'll try to make the rest longer! But I guess quality is better than quantity right? Or did I do badly for both aspects? Please leave a review and tell me how I did. Constructive criticism are welcomed!**

**Latios963**

**PS. This will be simultaneously posted on AO3.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2's out! Actually, I managed to finish writing this chapter yesterday but I wanted my friend to beta read it first. Anyways, here it is! I know that this story may seem pretty slow-paced, but I think I like it that way. Some stories are meant to go fast, and some slow. What do you guys think?**

**Oh, and it seems that I've forgotten something very important in the last chapter: the disclaimer! Oh well...**

***Disclaimer: No, I'm definitely a girl and not Tadatoshi Fujimaki... So Kuroko no Basuke is definitely not mine... Sigh...**

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Akashi blinked before masking his shock by asking, "What are you doing here? And who are you?"

"I was here before you," the boy replied, taking a sip of his cold beverage.

Now Akashi was even more confused than before and he absolutely hated it. He always knew what was happening and how to react in any situation but this time, he was stumped by the blue-haired student. For the life of him, the red-haired captain of the basketball team could not figure out how he didn't see the small boy when he was sitting just in front of him. His eyes were sharper than the normal human's, after all. "That's highly unlikely. I would have noticed you."

"It doesn't surprised me that you didn't," the boy seemed adamant that Akashi hadn't seen him. And Akashi was irked at the fact that his fellow student might be right, which meant that he - Akashi Seijuurou, the prodigy and epitome of perfection - actually failed at something. "Not many people do."

That was interesting. To think that a boy with such a shockingly bright hair colour and large round eyes would be so easily overlooked by the general population was rather strange. "And why's that?"

The pale, blue-eyes boy shrugged his shoulders. "I have low presence so it's hard for people to see me. To be honest, I would've been rather surprised if you'd noticed me, Akashi-kun."

A fine red eyebrow was elegantly raised. "You know my name?"

"Of course. Everyone in the school knows you," the boy replied. "It would've been hard not to be able to recognise you. The teachers constantly praise your good grades, the girls are always squealing over you and the you're the envy of the boys."

"You words are too flattering," Akashi's lips twitched into a rather bitter smile. "But in reality, I find that I'm not all that great. In terms of personality, that is." He didn't know just why he was admitting the one thing that he loathed to confess, but the other boy seemed to radiate a calm and welcoming presence if you could actually feel his limited amount of presence.

"There are many rumours about you going around," the boy remarked. "Most of them are not very pleasant."

"I can imagine so," Akashi muttered dryly. "But if that's the case, then why are you talking to me?"

"You're interesting," was the blunt reply that Akashi received. "I also can't say anything against you without knowing how you are. It wouldn't be very fair. And besides, you looked lonely."

Akashi scoffed when he heard the last statement. "True, I may not have friends, but I'm certain that I neither need nor want any."

"Aren't your basketball teammates your friends?"

"No," Akashi answered immediately. "I may be able to tolerate their presence but we are merely teammates."

"Is that so?" There was a slight pause in the conversation as the boy sipped his drink, looking like he was contemplating something. Then, he looked up and his crystal-clear blue eyes met Akashi's ruby-red orbs. "Excuse me for saying this then, Akashi-kun, especially since I just met you. I think that the kind of life you described - a life without companions and comrades - sounds very sad and lonely - pathetic almost."

Right at that time, the school bell sounded for the start of lessons. After the bell quietened down, the boy bid Akashi goodbye before pulling open the door and disappearing down the stairs.

And it was precisely at that time that Akashi Seijuurou realised that he never managed to find out what the boy's name was.

* * *

When the school bell had finally rung, sounding out the end of the school day, sighs of relief could be heard from every class. Akashi wordlessly packed up his things and after having his lunch, made his way towards the first-stringers' basketball courts. Teikou High's basketball club was extremely popular and as a result, the members had to be separated into different strings based on their performance level. When he arrived at the indoor sports hall dedicated solely to basketball, he saw that there wasn't anyone there. He was exceptionally early, again. As expected since he was the captain, after all. It wouldn't be good if the captain himself was late.

After changing into his basketball gear, Akashi noted that most of the club members had already arrived and were currently heading to the locker rooms to change.

"Akashicchi!" Kise's loud, exuberant voice echoed around the indoor hall. He halted just in front of his red-haired captain, knowing full well what would happen to him if he attempted to hug his teammate.

"Aka-chin," Murasakibara greeted.

"Hello, Atsushi, Shintarou and Ryouta," Akashi said, not failing to note the absence of the team's ace. It was almost time for practice. At this rate, the tanned male would be late and have to face the wrath of an Akashi. At this thought, Akashi almost grinned sadistically.

"What's the training menu for today, Akashi?" The vice-captain of the basketball team, Midorima asked, using his fingers to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I'll address that later, Shintarou. Where's Daiki?"

"Ah," It was Kise who spoke. "Aominecchi said that he had detention so he won't be able to come today."

"Ara? Mine-chin's going for detention?" Murasakibara voiced out everyone's disbelief. It wasn't that Aomine Daiki was the model student that never got into trouble, it was just that... "I know Mine-chin's been given detention lots of times, but he never goes to any of them."

"Yes, this is news to me too," Midoima added, clutching his ink unicorn stuff toy - his lucky item for the day, probably - closer to his chest like he was afraid the world was ending.

"Ryouta, explain," Akashi ordered.

Kise scratched his head nervously before answering, "I think the teachers got too fed up with him skipping detention. Sibce the're always so busy after school, they asked the student council to oversee Aominecchi's detentions. Some of them immediately surrounded Aominecchi right after class and dragged him off to lunch and detention."

Akashi tutted his disapproval at Aomine's lousy study attitude. "I guess it was just a matter of time." Then, he proceeded with ordering the members around and doubling or tripling their training menus, much to the dismay of all basketball club members. Their captain only gave them a sadistic smile that could rival that of the devil's.

* * *

It was six-fifteen when the basketball club had finished its rigorous training - courtesy of their demonic captain. It was six forty-five when Akashi had finished his meeting with the basketball coach, showered and changed out of his basketball clothes.

As he ambled along the many corridors of the school building, waiting for his chauffeur to pick him up, a voice behind him ask, "Oh, is Akashi-kun still here?"

Barely masking a gasp of surprise, Akashi whirled around to see the blue-haired boy that he had met that very afternoon. Willingly his palpitating heart to calm down, he said, "Oh, it's you again. What a coincidence. And to answer your question, I am the captain of the basketball team. Of course I have other things to do even after practice has ended. And did you think I wouldn't notice? That you haven't answered my question earlier today about who you were?"

"Akashi-kun is sharp," the boy complimented. "I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you, Akashi-kun."

Kuroko Tetsuya? That sounds familiar but I can't really remember where I heard that name... And Akashi Seijuurou hated not knowing anything. "I think I've heard of you before, but I can't remember where. Anyway, now it's my turn to ask what you're still doing here in school."

"Like Akashi-kun, I still have some things to finish," Kuroko responded monotonously. A soft ding then could be heard. Taking a sky-blue flip-phone out of his blazer pocket, Kuroko checked it before excusing himself. "It's been nice meeting you, Akashi-kun, but I have to go now."

And Akashi was left alone in the empty corridor.

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**And that's it for chapter 2! Yes, despite my hopes, it's as short as the last one. Anyways, have a good night/day! And please review!**

**Latios963**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys :) So sorry for the late update! The Friday before last was Valentine's Day so I decided to focus on writing an Akakuro Valentine's Day story Bittersweet. Please check it out and review it too!**

**Oh, by the way, I changed my pen name from Latios963 to HeteroChromium.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

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"Aominecchi!" Kise's voice vibrated in the air as he tackled Aomine. "Welcome back!"

"Geez, it was just one practice session," Aomine grumbled, pushing Kise off and getting to his feet.

"Yes," Hearing that cool, harsh voice, the tanned ace froze and felt shivers travel up his spin. Turning around, he faced his red-haired captain quietly. "And so, your training menu's doubled for today."

Aomine's eyes widened comically as he cried, "What? But it's not my fault! Blame the student council!"

"It's your fault that you kept skipping your detentions."

Grumbling under his breath, Aomine started on his warm-ups. They only ceased after Akashi said, "Daiki, I can hear you. One more complaint and I'll triple your training."

Let's just say that morning practice resumed in peace after that.

* * *

"So you're here again," Akashi simply stated, sitting down next to the blue-haired teen who was once again, Kuroko was sipping a drink.

"Hello, Akashi-kun," Kuroko greeted. "Is Akashi-kun going to have lunch here today as well?"

"Yes, Tetsuya. Do you have a problem with that?" Raising a fine red eyebrow, Akashi challenged him to say 'yes'.

"Not particularly," Kuroko shrugged. "But I was under the impression that your friends were looking for you."

Akashi knew what he was talking about. Even now, he could hear Kise crying out for him to eat together with him and the other members of the Generation of Miracles. "Let them try to find me, then," Akashi replied, nonchalantly opening his bentou and starting on his meal.

"Akashi-kun is rather mean to his friends," Kuroko pointed out.

Sighing, the redhead picked up a piece of meat before answering, "How many times must I tell you, Tetsuya? We are merely teammates in basketball, not friends. Besides," Akashi's tone got softer and his voice was quieter. "You're right, I am mean. Who'd want to make friends with such a mean person like me?"

"I would." Apparently, Kuroko had a keen sense of hearing - or he was sitting very close to Akashi - and picked up the words spoken under Akashi's breath. Eyes staring straight at Akashi's own, Kuroko said, "I would be your friend, Akashi-kun. Akashi-kun is mean, that is true. But I'd still want to be your friend. Because Akashi-kun is also kind, as well as mean."

Akashi uncharacteristically flushed and his cheeks were painted with a pale pink. Kuroko sounded so sincere and Akashi wondered what he had done to earn such kindness.

Akashi quickly averted his eyes down to his food before he became irritated at the amused laugh Kuroko let out. "What's so funny?" He asked, annoyed at being made fun of.

"It's nothing," Kuroko said, his face returning to its normal blankness, leaving Akashi with a trace of disappointment. Kuroko had really looked much cheerful and lively when he was smiling. Akashi thought that the other third year should smile more often.

The two continued eating their lunch in companionable silence. I can get used to this company... Akashi thought as he leaned back against the wall. However, halfway through the break, the door was slammed open, shattering the peaceful silence between the two.

"Akashicchi!" Kise cried out, proceeding to run towards the redhead and only stopping one or two metres away from his captain. The rest of the Generation of Miracles followed him, greeting him.

"Hello, Akashi."

"Good morning, Aka-chin~" Murasakibara was munching on one of his snacks again.

Akashi acknowledged the three of them before raising an eyebrow at the unusually quiet ace before he was startled by how pale the tanned face was.

"Aominecchi, are you alright?" Kise asked worriedly as he tried to reach for his friend who stood, frozen in place.

At Kise's touch, Aomine seemed to snap out of it. He stabbed a finger into the air and pointed next to Akashi, shouting, "You!"

The rest of the other Miracles gasped, thinking that he was pointing and rudely yelling at their demon captain whilst Akashi's eyebrow was raised even higher once he realised that Aomine was in fact pointing, not at himself, but Kuroko, whom Akashi was certain never did anything to remotely offend the taller boy.

"It's nice to see you again, Aomine-kun," Kuroko greeted blandly, much to the shock and surprise of Kise, Midorima and Murasakibara. Kise jumped back and screamed something about a ghost. Midorima clutched his lucky item closer to his chest, almost cracking the delicate china cup. Muraskabara paused in his munching to stare at Kuroko with wide eyes before they turned lazy again, and he relaxed, choosing to stuff his mouth with chips than bother with the drama around him.

It was as if the greeting from Kuroko spark off something in Aomine. Immediately, the tall basketball player was speaking again, his tone almost rant-like. "Y-you!" Aomine's dark face turned as pale as it could. "What are you doing here, Tetsu? I swear I've completed all my detention hours!"

Before Kuroko could reply, another voice rang out. "What are you yelling about, Aomine-kun?" the gang heard an irritated sigh as a certain pink-haired manager of Teikou's basketball team appeared at the doorway of the rooftop. She immediately froze upon seeing a certain light-blue-haired teen. Instantly, her eyes lit up and she lunged forward to link Kuroko's arm with her own, effectively pulling him up to stand with her. "Tetsu-kun! What are you doing here?" She gushed.

Somehow, the sight of the two irked Akashi and he felt his heart clench a bit. And I was having such a nice, peaceful lunch too, he thought. And how do Daiki and Satsuki know Tetsuya?

Clearing his throat, Akashi caught the attention of all the others on the roof. "Daiki, Satsuki," he said. "How do you know Tetsuya? And why are you so scared to see him, Daiki?"

"He's that student council president that made me stay back until I completed all my work and fulfilled all my detention hours!" Aomine was practically screaming this point in frustration.

Time seemed to freeze for Akashi. "Wait, does that mean you're the student council president, Tetsuya?"

Immediately, all eyes turned towards the bluehead as Kise, Midorima and Murasakibara were finally able to see the small male.

The calm expression never left Kuroko's face as he took a small sip of his milkshake. "Yes, that's right, Akashi-kun."

A sort of awkward silence reigned after the confirmation. Only Momoi and Kuroko seemed unaffected. Akashi was having a hard time accepting that he had been unaware of the Student Council President's identity until now. A few seconds later, Midorima decided to break the tension. "Well that makes a lot of sense," the green-haired shooting guard said.

"What do you mean, Mido-chin?" Murasakibara finally spoke up, placing two chips into his mouth to relax his confused brain.

"It explains how no one really knows who the Student Council President is, despite his position in the school," Midorima explained. "We had a difficult time detecting him which is probably why the president is never really noticed."

"Then how is he the president?" Kise furrowed his eyebrows. "Isn't it difficult to take charge if you're never noticed?"

"Hey, that makes the Student Council sound terrible," Momoi huffed. "You make us seem like we ignore our president. We don't right, Tetsu-kun?"

"Not really," Kuroko answered.

"Oh, right," Kise grinned. "I forgot that Momocchi was in the Student Council. Is that how you know Kuroko?"

"Yeah!" Momoi confirmed, standing up and walking towards the gang. "Tetsu-kun may not seem like it, but he is a good leader. Although he has a severe lack of presence, when he tries, he can make people do what he wants. He just has that sort of charm and charisma when noticed, you know? Unlike a certain someone I know." At this, the pink-haired girl sent a glare towards her childhood friend who reciprocated the act with a sneer of his own. "Who has too much presence but not enough charm."

"Hey!" Aomine protested.

"Oh! But she's right, Aominecchi!" Kise smirked at the tanned male.

"Oi!"

"That's what we mean," Midorima commented.

"What? Midorima too?"

"Sa-chin's got you there, Mine-chin," Mursakibara mumbled through his munching.

"Shut up!"

"You lack of eloquence is very alarming, Daiki," Akashi decided that annoying the ace seemed extremely entertaining.

"Even you, Akashi?"

At the sight of the basketball club regulars bickering about, Kuroko let out a small laugh. However, only Akashi's sharp ears caught the quiet laugh. Seeing the amusing, light-hearted scene in front of him, Akashi's heterochromatic eyes softened and he mentally agreed with Kuroko's unsaid thoughts. _They sure are lively..._

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**And that's a wrap! Originally, I thought of adding something else but in the end, I decided not to. Please review it!**

**Cheers,**

**HeteroChromium**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi there! :) Another Friday, another update ^^ I don't have much to say except that I've finally finalised the plot of the story and planned out what would happen in the later chapters. I'm expecting to take things faster after Chapter 5 or so since Akashi's feelings are starting to grow.**

**Oh, and please check out my Tumblr blog for Akakuro fanfiction. It's . and although there really isn't much there right now, I'm planning to add in my other Akakuro stuff there soon too. I might first post some stories there - like the ones I did for the OTP battle - before putting them on FF since I want to revise them first.**

**Anyways, please enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"Hey, Tetsu-kun, are you free this Saturday?" Momoi Satsuki had asked out of the blue one day, shocking all of Teikou's basketball regulars that were hovering in the vicinity of the two members of Student Council.

Lately, at the insistence of both Momoi and Kise and the acceptance of the other members of the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko had started coming to watch the Teikou basketball practices on days when he didn't have any Student Council meetings or events that required him to physically be at the venue. Most of the time, he would bring along stacks and stacks of papers - Aomine, who had always thought that Student Council Presidents didn't really do much except flaunt authority and take credit for organising school festivals, was taken back by the sheer amount of paperwork required for that position - to do as the basketball club members continued their normal practice sessions, oblivious to the presence of the most supposedly most powerful student in the school.

Kuroko mentally checked through his schedule for that day before responding, "I think so. Why? Is there a problem, Momoi-san?"

The pink-haired manager grinned before announcing, "Alright! Then let's all play a game of basketball at the streetball courts on Saturday."

This proclamation was met with a few confused blinks, blank looks and a finely-raised red eyebrow. Aomine was the first to respond to his childhood friend's decision by sounding out his usual 'tch' and saying, "Oi, what brought this on, Satsuki?"

The girl huffed and narrowed her eyes. "Well, Tetsu-kun has taking time to come over to see our practices even though he has so much work to do. Let's all treat him to a game of basketball, shan't we? Tetsu-kun told me that he liked basketball."

It was then that Kuroko decided to speak up for himself. "Momoi-san, although I do like basketball very much, I must confess that I have zero talent for the sport."

"But that doesn't mean that you can't play a fun and easy-going game, does it, Tetsuya?" Akashi decided to back Momoi up. For some strange reason, he really wanted to spend more time with the bluehead.

"Yes, but I'd only just be hindrance to the other players," Kuroko pointed out.

"Well, we could always teach you, Kurokocchi," Kise added his two cents, smiling brightly at the smaller male.

"I thought I already told you to stop calling me that, Kise-kun."

"So mean!" The blond was crying out his usual crocodile tears before saying, "And I thought that I already explained that I call you that because I respect you, Kurokocchi?"

After spending time with the small bluehead, Kise decided that he really liked and respected the other male for always being so calm and able to handle Aomine that left that taller blue-haired boy quaking at the sheer mention of 'detention'.

"See, you idiot? Even Kuroko finds it annoying," Teikou's shooting guard sighed as his comment resulted in more tears being shed. "And I guess it wouldn't be too bad to have you play, Kuroko, even if you are as bad as you say. Not that I want you around anyways."

Kuroko had to smile that the greenhead's obviously tsundere attitude. Despite being a straight-forward and blunt person, Kuroko had a become used to Midorima's speech and actions rather quickly and just accepted it as part of the shooting ace's personality and preference. Just like how he easily accepted Midorima's strange obsession with horoscope - Oha Asa, in particular - without too much questions.

Maybe that's why the people who knew and noticed Kuroko ended up liking him despite his blunt attitude. He cared and accepted them as they were and wouldn't try to change them unless he felt that it was unethical or morally wrong. Take his response to Aomine's boob fetish for example. He was not really disgusted with the tanned male himself, but he did lecture him on how Aomine would easily be mistaken as a pervert, to which Momoi quipped that "Dai-chan already is a pervert."

Kuroko felt a large hand pat his head as he looked up and met Murasakibara's violet eyes that were looking at him seriously. "Although I don't particularly like people with little talent playing basketball, I don't mind Kuro-chin playing with us," Murasakibara admitted. "Because Kuro-chin's nice and he always gives me snacks after practice."

Of course, the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, after all. In actuality, Kuroko had only given the purple-haired giant the snacks after practice to stop Murasakibara's habit of eating during practice.

"So it's settled then," Akashi smiled charmingly at Kuroko. "You'll be coming with us for a friendly game this Saturday."

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Kuroko sighed but Akashi caught a small smile light up the boy's face.

"Yeah, I guess we could meet at the basketball courts near Maji Burger," Aomine said. "And we could go for lunch at Maji after the game."

"Having fast food for a meal is not very healthy, Daiki," Akashi glared icily at Teikou's basketball ace, to which the dark-bluehead only responded with a casual shrug.

"It's decided then," Akashi continued, looking at every single person - even Kuroko and Momoi's - face, "We'll meet there at 10 am on Saturday."

[Line Break]

On a fine Saturday morning, a rough battle of basketball was being played on the streetball courts near a branch of the fast food chain know as Maji Burger. Kuroko, Aomine and Kise made up one team whilst the other team consisted of Akashi, Midorima and Murasakibara. Momoi was keeping track of the score and generally observing the player's overall performance.

After playing horrendously for the first few minutes and another fifteen minutes of the members of the Generation of Miracles trying to teach him how to shoot or dunk, Akashi pulled Kuroko to the side and told him to play to his specialties.

It was all over for Akashi's team after that. Once Kuroko had figured out using his low presence and tendency to disappear on court, he was able to steal most of the balls and pass them over to either Aomine and Kise. Even though Akashi had Murasakibara on his team, overwhelming height and width and amazingly quick reflexed could not stop Aomine from making the baskets. When Murasakibara was distracted by Aomine, Kise would be able to score the points.

It made Akashi somewhat regret giving Kuroko that piece of advice. However, since the bluehead smile ever so radiantly made up for the redhead's bitter loss. And it was he himself that kept stressing that it was just a friendly game, wasn't he?

After the game, the group headed over to the fast food hangout to have lunch, much to Akashi's greatest disapproval.

"Aren't you going to eat something, Tetsuya?" Five other pairs of eyes turned towards him as Akashi stared at the food in his hands.

"Vanilla Shake counts as food," Kuroko responded, holding up his cup of the beverage.

The basketball captain shook his head. "It's not enough, Tetsuya. Now, you buy a burger or something if you must."

"I just have a very poor appetite, Akashi-kun. I'm used to it," Kuroko tried to reassure the other.

Wrong move. Akashi was obviously neither pleased nor pacified. "That's very unhealthy," he argued. "It's not good for you to eat so little. Now, if you're not going to buy the burger yourself, then I shall go over to the counter right now and buy the largest, meatiest burger they sell. And I will make you eat it."

Kuroko was silent as Akashi stood up and was about to walk over to the store's cashier. Just as he stepped out of his chair, Kuroko said, "Wait up. I'll do it."

After buying a small but still decent burger, normal conversations resumed. Akashi only watched in amusement as Kuroko and Momoi started reprimanding Aomine after seeing the many magazines of Horikita Mai that would make even a monk blush. But Kuroko was no monk as he held up the magazine with a perfectly straight face and started scolding Aomine, with Momoi as support. Akashi observed how Aomine would easily brush off Kuroko's chastises with a sullen scowl as he tried to reach over to snatch the magazines out of the Student Council president's hands. He had failed every time and resorted to sulking.

Suddenly, something strange bloomed in Akashi's chest as watched the three, specifically Kuroko and Aomine, have such fun. He felt his heart constrict painfully and was slightly worried if there was something wrong with him. But he then brushed it off and decided that there wasn't really anything wrong. He just tried to relax and ignore the painful clenches of his heart as he watched Kuroko and Aomine chat so casually.

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**So how was it? Please review! :D**

**Heterochromium**


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